Still no ID, cause of death for body in massage parlor

A single lightbulb remained on yesterday afternoon, above a nondescript gray door just west of Jeweler's Row - a door that led to an illegal massage parlor where a woman was found dead under suspicious circumstances Sunday night, police said.

Authorities were led to the second-floor dwelling, above a kosher restaurant on Sansom Street near 8th, by an anonymous person who called 9-1-1 from a Delaware County phone booth.

The woman was found at 9:30 p.m., fully clothed in a bed, police said. Her body exhibited no signs of a struggle and there were no gunshot or stab wounds on her, police said.

She was pronounced dead at 9:58 p.m.

As of last night, she remained a Jane Doe. Police said that she is an Asian woman believed to be about 35 years old.

Police and a spokesman for the Medical Examiner's Office said the cause of death remained pending last night. Neither could confirm reports from 6ABC that she had died of heart disease and a compromised immune system.

The owner of Hamifgash, a kosher restaurant below the massage parlor, said he was unaware of any illegal activity going on above his head.

Yesterday, the city's Department of Licenses & Inspections placed a "cease operations/stop work order" on the door of the massage parlor, citing violations of "zoning, fire and licenses" codes.

An advertisement in the Jan. 6 edition of Philadelphia Weekly showing a buxom, young Asian woman with the word "Ace" scrolled above her head lists the massage parlor's exact address - 813 Sansom St., 2nd floor - as a place to "Enjoy Relaxation with our Beautiful, Young, Asian Staff."

A number listed on the ad went unanswered yesterday.